Wednesday, March 16, 2011

For about the past two months, Ellie has gotten progressively more opinionated and demanding. While I understand it's part of whole "grow and develop" thing, it's sometimes hard. And loud.

See, she doesn't talk much at all. Instead she makes two noises to convey her feelings. A grunt/whine combo and a high pitched squeal/scream delight. For instance, she'll go stand by the refrigerator and do the grunt/whine for a little bit (waiting for one of us to open it so she can snag a yogurt and RUN like she shoplifted or something). If we don't get there soon enough for her patience level, she switches over to the squeal/scream.

Sometimes though, like at dinner tonight, she kept doing a short version of the squeal/scream. Maybe just for fun? Maybe because it got our attention as we tried desperately not to be those people. You know, the ones in a sit-down restaurant who bring a toddler that destroys the idea of eating a meal in peace.

Anyway, she was tired of eating and was not interested in using her "inside voice". She just kept squawking. Short little "eek, eek" noises. Not my idea of a nice dinner. So I pulled out the big guns.

ELMO

Oh how I love him! And the iPhone. My heroes. I have downloaded a few free episodes of "Learn Along With Sesame" from iTunes onto my iPhone and can whip them out whenever I need to dispel a tantrum. I try not to use it unless it's necessary (i.e. public or a long car ride), but seriously PROBLEM SOLVED.

Friday, March 11, 2011

One of my major splurges is going to the mall. Not because I buy a lot of clothing or toys or shoes. It's because I can barely get through the mall without buying a mango smoothie from the Nordstrom cafe. It is one of my most favorite things. And topped with whipped cream? Come on...

Ellie is my kid.

She loves those smoothies.

In fact, she loves them so much that if she sees me holding one, she gets jealous. So, being the ingenious mother that I am I asked for a child's cup and poured just an inch or so of my smoothie into her little cup.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

We've had a touch of the flu here at the Lovejoy house. Miserable. After cleaning vomit out of every nook and cranny in Ellie's new car seat (ugh), I decided we weren't taking any more chances and lined Ellie's space with blankets. She snuggled her baby and watched Sesame.

Later, Scott was sick on the couch. Ellie kept trying to give her blanket and cussy (pacifier) to him. She knew he needed a little extra comfort. So cute.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Last week, we packed up and headed south for a little R&R in St. George. The boys golfed and the women shopped. Ellie liked watching my mom exercise. She even got in on the action. Sort of. Anytime my mom got down to stretch or do sit up, Ellie sat on her. Whoops!